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Single Peoples' Personalities Differ from Partnered Peoples'

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Dec 30, 2024.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Dec. 30, 2024 -- Single folks might seem like they’re free to have more fun, but a new study says they may pay the piper in their later years.

Lifelong single folks have lower scores on life satisfaction measures than those in long-term relationships, according to a study published recently in the journal Psychological Science.

Singles also score differently on measures of personality like extroversion, conscientiousness and adventurousness, results show.

“There are differences between people who stay single their entire lives and people who get partnered, and for me this means that we have to take extra care of these people,” lead investigator Julia Stern, a senior researcher at the University of Bremen in Germany, said in a news release from the American Psychological Society.

For the study, researchers surveyed more than 77,000 Europeans older than 50 hailing from 27 different countries.

Of these participants, more than 4,900 had never been married, more than 2,900 had never lived with a partner, and nearly 2,400 had never been in a serious long-term relationship.

Researchers figured that people who had been in a serious relationship in the past might have different personality traits than those who’ve never been in a committed partnership.

And they were right -- lifelong singles scored lower on extraversion, openness to new experiences, conscientiousness and life satisfaction, results show.

All singles scored lower on those measures than people in current relationships, researchers noted.

Researchers said it’s more likely that people with certain personality traits enter into long-term relationships, rather than those relationships changing a person’s personality.

“It’s more likely you have these selection effects: For example, people who are more extroverted are more likely to enter a relationship,” Stern said.

Changes to personality that come from being in a relationship tend to be minor and temporary.

Stern gave the example of an extroverted person who stays in to be with a new partner. They likely will grow restless over time and start going out again.

When it comes to life satisfaction, the culture of a country has an effect, researchers noted.

They also found that living in a society where marriage is expected results in lower life satisfaction scores.

Overall, single women scored higher on life satisfaction than single men, and older folks tended to be happier as singles than middle-aged adults.

This might be because older singles have gotten past the era of peers getting married and starting families, and are better able to now accept their circumstances, Stern said.

Stern says programs aimed at preventing loneliness among singles should take their different personality traits into account, to better help them stay socially connected.

“If they have people who care for them or look out for them regularly, this might help,” Stern concluded.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted December 2024

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